Whats FedEx up to?

[Brown287]

The funny thing is that the cost advantage is just passed onto the average Joe blow tax payer. Like Ive previously posted my brother is a Ground driver. He gets 700 dollars a week, and thats on the high end, with ZERO benefits. So my brothers salary is too low for him to need to pay any federal income tax. You read that correctly, he pays NO federal income tax. However he received roughly 7500 dollars back in his Federal income tax, how does that equate you ask, its called the "earned income tax credit". In addition his family gets government medical coverage from medi care, and to top it off he gets food stamps. Where does all this money come from you ask, well as demonstrated in the fact that he pays no Federal tax, primarily from us. I work at UPS and get a good wage, those of you at Express get a good wage, so we both pay are fare share of taxes apparently so we can subsidies the Ground drivers. FedEx makes BILLIONS in profit this is how they accomplish that.

So when I argue that the mis-classification of Ground drivers is a joke this is just another reason why we need to see that it ends. My brother works his butt off and deserves to be properly compensated for it, and as you can see the longer that FedEx and companies that like them are able to pass their expenses onto us tax payers the more you are going to have taken out of your checks.

So wake up and realize that the nickle you might save going to Wal-Mart or shipping FedEx Ground actually will end up costing you a lot more. Express drivers wake up, the success that X has had at washing their hands of any financial liabilities at Ground will come your way as soon as they are given the opportunity.

 

[bbsam]

Yep, they'd cut him loose in a second. He doesn't really understand how FedEx thinks of it's employees/contractors. Barron's puts the FedEx Ground cost advantage at 30% over UPS, so where do you suppose that huge differential comes from? Using 59 Dano's example, did the contractor have to show-up every day at an exact time, follow precise procedures etc, or did he just show-up at the job when he felt it was necessary as long as it came-in on-time and on-budget? I'm guessing it's not OK for FedEx non-employees to come to work when they feel like it or for contractors to do whatever they want and ignore stringent FedEx protocols.

Yes, I show up to work when I believe I need to be there. That's usually about 7:00. Now, my work day may end by 9:30 am or 7:00 pm. And yes as long as the job gets done and there are now accidents or verified complaints, Fedex "protocols" can be ignored.

 

[FedExer267]

Nice to see I am not the only one. I work 70 hours a week for less than your brother makes so I am making under 10 a hour. The thing that really gets me is we work hard and we bust our butts to get the job done. Promises of bonuses raises and other incentives which in my time at ground I have yet to see. Its bad enough we do not get benefits or a vacation with pay which would be a nice thank you. We are basically making 20 dollars less a hour than UPS does when its all said and done yet performing the same job. Some would have you believe that this is a supplemental income job but I ask you would a supplemental job take a daily, weekly, and yearly toll on your body I am thinking not. A supplemental income job would be working at a store 20 hours a week checkingout purchases of customers not much wear and tear there. I believe its pretty funny that we can work 70 hours a week and UPS and Express can only work 60 but lets face it cheap labor its not like we are getting paid overtime. Many of us have no choice but to get government assistance when it comes to health care and food stamps because we are still trying to provide for our families, which comes out of your tax paying dollars and thats the plan to shrink the national debt to raise taxes which screws you even more.
Like I said before most of us are only doing this job because we were laid off from previous jobs when the economy tanked. Waiting patiently for the economy to rebound and doing whatever we can to make sure our families are provided for. Now you have this new addendum that basically will take its toll on th ground when drivers starting falling off the wall like flies. Anyone you want to hire needs 6 months experience. Good luck trying to find a professional minded driver for what most contractors offer. I personally think its great that FedEx somewhere voted teamster some one needs to stick it to smith the way he has been sticking it to his frontlines for years... JMO

 

[quadro]

The funny thing is that the cost advantage is just passed onto the average Joe blow tax payer. Like Ive previously posted my brother is a Ground driver. He gets 700 dollars a week, and thats on the high end, with ZERO benefits. So my brothers salary is too low for him to need to pay any federal income tax. You read that correctly, he pays NO federal income tax.

That's a very misleading claim. Whether he pays federal income tax or not on a wage of about $35000/year has a lot more to do with married or single, dependents, deductions, etc. There are a lot of jobs out there that pay way more than $700/week and you can bet some of those folks don't pay taxes either.

So wake up and realize that the nickle you might save going to Wal-Mart or shipping FedEx Ground actually will end up costing you a lot more. Express drivers wake up, the success that X has had at washing their hands of any financial liabilities at Ground will come your way as soon as they are given the opportunity.

Fortunately for all of us, I'm pretty sure you are not a certified financial planner.

 

[Brown287]

I'm sorry and you are?

Thats what I thought, the facts are pretty clear. He does a job that should qualify him for higher compensation, due to the set up at Ground it is nearly impossible for a contractor with even the best intentions to properly compensate their drivers so that they are not a burden to society. You failed to comment on the lack of health care and that resulting in him getting tax payer funded medi care for him and his family. News flash FedEx is highly profitable company and not at any time should I, you, or anyone else be called upon to subsidize their employees.

 

[quadro]

I'm sorry and you are?

No. But I'm also not giving out financial advice.

Thats what I thought, the facts are pretty clear. He does a job that should qualify him for higher compensation, due to the set up at Ground it is nearly impossible for a contractor with even the best intentions to properly compensate their drivers so that they are not a burden to society. You failed to comment on the lack of health care and that resulting in him getting tax payer funded medi care for him and his family. News flash FedEx is highly profitable company and not at any time should I, you, or anyone else be called upon to subsidize their employees.

It's not that I failed to comment, I chose not to because I hadn't taken the time to research a couple of your points. However, since you asked, is your brother over 65 and/or disabled? Don't mean to be nosey but I thought medicare was only available if over 65 and/or disabled. Your post made it sound like he earns so little he doesn't have to pay taxes. As I said, that's very misleading and IMHO taints the rest of your post.

 

[stevetheupsguy]

This is a kind of a segway but I will still mention it here. I have a Ground driver who has part of the same route that I do and this guy leaves a delivery notice with every single residential delivery that he makes. He will leave the pkg by the door and then fill out and place a delivery notice on the same door just above the pkg. I shake my head and laugh whenever I see this--are you guys trained to do this? I can see doing this if you DR in a location where the pkg cannot be easily seen but to place a note on a door with the pkg sitting directly below the notice just seems to be a waste of time and effort.

+1

It is a waste and yes we do it. Why do we do it? Because before we were leaving virtually none. Therefore, we now leave them at every residential delivery. Strange thing is, both claims and complaints having to do with not finding a delivery or finding it days later dropped dramatically. I think it has someting to do with drawing the homeowners attention to look at the front door in instances when they drive into the garage. Silly, but effective.

Wouldn't it be more effective sticking your funny little notice to say, THE MAILBOX, afterall, all customers check the mail.

 

[MrFedEx]

Isn't it illegal to leave anything in a USPS box besides USPS items?

 

[quadro]

Isn't it illegal to leave anything in a USPS box besides USPS items?

Correct. Has to have postage on it to be put in a mailbox. I'm not sure about on, but I wouldn't do it just to be safe. Maybe put it on the post etc. However, don't know about your area but a lot of homes here have community mailboxes so there is no mailbox in front of the house anyway.

 

[Brown287]

No. But I'm also not giving out financial advice.


It's not that I failed to comment, I chose not to because I hadn't taken the time to research a couple of your points. However, since you asked, is your brother over 65 and/or disabled? Don't mean to be nosey but I thought medicare was only available if over 65 and/or disabled. Your post made it sound like he earns so little he doesn't have to pay taxes. As I said, that's very misleading and IMHO taints the rest of your post.

Your right I meant to say "medi cal" not "medi care". Yes his salary is too low for him to have any Federal tax liabilities.

 

[bbsam]

Yep, they'd cut him loose in a second. He doesn't really understand how FedEx thinks of it's employees/contractors. Barron's puts the FedEx Ground cost advantage at 30% over UPS, so where do you suppose that huge differential comes from? Using 59 Dano's example, did the contractor have to show-up every day at an exact time, follow precise procedures etc, or did he just show-up at the job when he felt it was necessary as long as it came-in on-time and on-budget? I'm guessing it's not OK for FedEx non-employees to come to work when they feel like it or for contractors to do whatever they want and ignore stringent FedEx protocols.

Doesn't the 30% cost advantage mean they'd flush the express drivers long before the ground contractor? Remember, corporate is all about the bottom line.

 

[bbsam]

Well from what Ive been witness too is the fact that Contractors have the most to lose. FedEx is merely manipulating the Ground setup to benefit them with no shared risk. For example if Bbsam pays his employees by the hour each new requirement put upon Bbsam bares no new cost to FedEx because its not them who pay the employees. With the new addendum that has recently surfaced this again creates an environment that the Contractors not FedEx must figure out a way to navigate. The tags that all H.D. and Ground drivers must now leave with the delivery's add both cost and time that once again the contractors must navigate not FedEx, I would like to add that Express drivers don't leave those tags. Ask yourself why, cause the cost would need to be absorbed directly by FedEx and they don't like that. So I ask you is this a situation in which X is purposely trying to force out contractors so that when they are forced to reclassify the drivers there will be less cost with buyouts? I know that Bbsam puts on a brave face but even he at this point has got to scratch his head at times and wonder if X really doesn't want him to make money.

Who ever said that the new adendum didn't offer more money to get the job done?

 

[quadro]

Your right I meant to say "medi cal" not "medi care". Yes his salary is too low for him to have any Federal tax liabilities.

Just to be clear, his salary is not too low for him to have any Federal tax liabilities. His family is likely large enough and he has enough deductions that he can reduce his AGI to where he has no tax liability. All things being equal, if he were single, no kids, he would have a tax liability.

 

[stevetheupsguy]

Isn't it illegal to leave anything in a USPS box besides USPS items?

I meant On, but what the difference, you guys are still wasting paper. When the cust tracks the pkgs, won't they see a left at front door or where ever it's been left? Another point is, don't you guys get along with your area letter carrier? I'm sure they won't mind you leaving a notice on or in the box. It doesn't really matter to me. I'm like Upstate and find it quite amusing when I see the pkg and then then the note on the door. They even do this at apt's where the pkg will be tripped over upon entering, LOL. I've even had it done at my house.

 

[tracker2762]

Who ever said that the new adendum didn't offer more money to get the job done?

Does Fedex offer you more money for the new addendum? Yes or No

 

[59 Dano]

Did you make your contractor wear a uniform with your name on it and drive a truck with your name on the side?

No. I specified plenty of other things, though. When he could work on this job, when he couldn't, where he could park, etc. You can bet that if one of his crew showed up wearing an inappropriate t-shirt I would have had something to say about that as well.

I honestly don't know what's so hard to understand. FedEx Ground says that a contractor will be paid whatever amount of money for meeting whichever criteria. The whole point of the franchise/contract idea is that one party gets to use an established company's name, trademark, and business model. Following the dress code and so forth is SOP for that type of business agreement, so why should FedEx be any different?

 

[MrFedEx]

Doesn't the 30% cost advantage mean they'd flush the express drivers long before the ground contractor? Remember, corporate is all about the bottom line.

Maybe, but do you really think that FedEx is going to continue to enjoy such a lop-sided advantage long-term? I'll agree with you that corporate only thinks about the bottom line. As I've said before, getting quality people to work for Express would be much more expensive than over at Ground.

 

[bbsam]

Does Fedex offer you more money for the new addendum? Yes or No

yes

 

[bbsam]

What's Fedex up to? And why did I re-open this long dead topic? Because they are up to something again. 6:45am meeting with all contractors. Very, very hush hush. But I have a strong feeling Fred has finally decided to end the Ground litigation battles once and for all.

 

[fxdwg]

I think it is to sell the whole company to DHL